The Holocaust and Memory

Listening to these testimonies of survivors from the second World War was both touching and sickening at the same time. It is horrible to hear about the atrocities of war, ecspecially when it happens to innocent and often young people. While watching George Gottlieb's interview, you can tell the strength that he had to have, and the strength other Jewish people had to have during the war.

I was very surprised, however when George asked a guard if there was any possible way he could let his mother know he was alive. In an act of cruelty, the guard just kicked him and told him to “get back in line”. As George, his brother, and other Jewish people were leaving, the guard took 10 out of 100 of them, including him and his brother, with a push cart to the ladies camp. The rest of the Jewish people went directly to work. In an act of kindness, George and his brother were handed a brown paper bag with bread, butter, sausage, and a knife. They were given 20 minutes by the guard to find their mother, and she found them. He is very emotional, even now, and talks about what a beautiful woman his mother was. That was the last time he saw her. George says it was “a tough sight and a tougher memory”. His mothers last words were “Be proud of your heritage, and proud of your name." This part was very touching to me because the guard showed them some kindness, but at the same time, he did not show kindness to the other Jewish people. A common theme seems to be the cruelty of some receiving hope and kindness while others receive the worst treatment possible.

Another touching interview was with Marcia Spies. It was touching because she said that she had to go into hiding. She says it with such conviction probably because some ridiculed her for her decision to not stand with the Jewish People. In her own way, she contributed to the Jewish people by staying alive and telling her story. She talks about the very strict conditions she had to live under in hiding. She was taken in by a family with two college age daughters. The family was nice, a point she stresses, and she slept with the girls. She was given a closet to hide in by the family. “Every time the doorbell rang I would have to go into the closet, and stay there in the closet. Sometimes for hours and hours”. Because of the great risk they were taking, the family restricted visitors to the house as much as possible. The family had a farm outside the city where they lived, where they had vegetables and meat. She stresses that they were just ordinary people, not wealthy, but extremely humanitarian. She says “to risk their lives and their children’s lives to hide a Jewish child… was really incredible”.

Both interviews (George Gottlieb's and Marcia Spies's) can be found at the website: http://college.usc.edu/vhi/otv/otv.php. George Gottlieb is under Camps and Marcia Spies is under Hiding.